Gyromitra esculenta (Pers.: Fr.) Fr. and a few other mushrooms have caused severe poisonings and even deaths in humans. Clinical data are characterized primarily by vomiting and diarrhoea, followed by jaundice, convulsions and coma. Gastrointestinal disorders distinguish this poisoning. Frequent consumption can cause hepatitis and neurological diseases. The species of concern are mainly G. esculenta and G. gigas (Kromb.) Cooke (non Phill.). Nevertheless, recent advances in chromatography, biochemistry and toxicology have established that other Ascomycetes species also may prove toxic. Gyromitrin (acetaldehyde methylformylhydrazone, G) and its homologues are toxic compounds that convert in vivo into N-methyl-N-formylhydrazine (MFH), and then into N-methylhydrazine (MH). The toxicity of these chemicals, which are chiefly hepatotoxic and even carcinogenic, has been established through in vivo and in vitro experiments using animals, cell cultures and biochemical systems. When we consider the chemical nature and the reactivity of these natural compounds, we suggest that chemical and biochemical mechanisms may explain their intrinsic biological activity.
The ink cap--Coprinus atramentarius (Bulliard ex Fries) Fries--is responsible for poisoning when ingested with alcohol. The investigation of the "Coprinus syndrome," although a minor poisoning incident, stimulated numerous research programs because the results were expected to yield a novel drug useful during the treatment of alcoholism. This work led to the identification of the active principle--coprine--and to an explanation of its mode of action; nevertheless, detailed toxicology investigations have shown that the mutagenic and gonadotoxic properties of this compound made it unsuitable for therapeutic use. Our current knowledge of the poisoning, the chemistry of the toxin, and its mode of action are here reviewed.
Ecotoxicology and environmental safety concerns suggested estimation of the content of 14 metals-some of them highly toxic, such as cadmium, mercury, and lead-in 26 mushrooms species (Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes). The fungi-members of different genera-were collected during two periods, 1967-1969 and 1978-1981, in primary forests of Latin America (mainly French Guyana and a few samples from Colombia and Costa Rica), these areas are non- or slightly inhabited, therefore, industrial pollution has to be considered as totally nonexistent. Heavy metals, selectively concentrated in specific living organisms, should be regarded as toxin-like substances, taking into account the bioaccumulation sites (mushrooms) and the noxious activity toward various organs of mammals (i.e., central nervous system, kidneys, liver, etc.). The levels and distribution of the metals in the samples are given and compared. Most surprisingly, contents are not especially contrasted with those found in mushrooms collected in European urban areas, such as the Paris region; cadmium, lead, and mercury levels are of the same order of magnitude.
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